Epstein affair: 8,000 new documents put online by the US Department of Justice

The first round of files was the target of numerous criticisms. At least 8,000 new documents on the Epstein scandal have been available since Tuesday on the website of the American Department of Justice, accused of withholding information and criticized by the Democratic opposition for the dissemination, considered too slow, of this file.

These new files contain hundreds of videos and audio, including surveillance images from August 2019. It was at that time that New York sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell. The Justice Department has posted about 11,000 links to new documents online, but some go nowhere.

The ministry was forced by a law, reluctantly promulgated by US President Donald Trump, to publish the entire file before the deadline of Friday, December 19. But only part of the documents were made available on the Justice Department website Friday evening and many files were redacted. Some files have even been removed.

The ministry responded that it needed more time to carefully release the rest of the files, in order to best protect victims whose identities could be revealed.

The links between Epstein and several personalities

The Democratic opposition, however, saw this delay as a political maneuver intended to avoid the publication of information supposedly compromising President Donald Trump, who appears in images alongside Jeffrey Epstein. “The Department of Justice must stop protecting rich and powerful men who have not been indicted” in this case, denounced Monday the elected Democrat behind the law, Ro Khanna, requesting the publication of certain specific documents in the file.

The publication of these documents should help shed light on his past links with prominent figures, including the Republican president.

Among the 4,000 files revealed on Friday, several show Jeffrey Epstein with superstars such as singers Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger or former US President Bill Clinton, who notably appears in a jacuzzi alongside a masked figure. Bill Clinton’s team on Monday urged the Justice Department to release all documents contained in its files, saying he had nothing to hide.

While he said, during his 2024 campaign, he agreed to make these files public, Donald Trump then did an about-face, denouncing a “hoax” used by the Democrats. His “MAGA” base, obsessed with this scandal, rebelled when the Department of Justice announced in the summer that it had discovered no new elements justifying the publication of additional documents or new prosecutions.

After months of revolt, the president had to give in to pressure from Congress, including elected Republican officials, promulgating a law in November requiring his government to publish all of the unclassified documents in its possession.